Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Mt.Fuji(Kawaguchiko view)

Mt. Fuji stands at 12,388 ft/3,776 m high and is surrounded by five lakes: Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Sai, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji. They, and nearby Lake Ashi, provide excellent views of the mountain. It is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It is also active and is a composite volcano, according to wikipedia.org.

An estimated 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji every year, 30% of whom are foreigners. The ascent can take anywhere between 3 and 7 hours while the descent can take from 2 to 5 hours. The hike is divided into ten stations and there are paved roads up to the fifth station, which is about 2300 meters above sea level. Huts at this station are not usually manned at night for nighttime climbers. The sheer number of climbers each year has created a litter problem on the road to the summit, but this has not decreased the mountain's popularity.

Trivia

Singer Kyu Sakamoto once had bearers carry a grand piano to the summit for a concert.The Atari and Infiniti logos are both stylized representations of Mount Fuji, though some believe that the Infiniti logo is just a road.Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont in New Zealand looks so similar to Mount Fuji from some angles that it has been used as a substitute in films, such as The Last Samurai.Volcan Osorno in south Chile also has a striking similarity to Mount Fuji.Before Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, it was often called the "Mt Fuji of America."Mt Fuji and the surrounding area is a frequently utilised battleground in the Godzilla series, most notably in Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs The Smog Monster and Godzilla: Final Wars.Mt. Fuji is a playable level in the PS2 RPG "Shadow Hearts: Covenant", under the name "Immortal Mountain".In the video game "Soul Calibur III" one of the battlefields is titled "Sacred Mt. Fuji - Lava Bed".The heel (professional wrestling) manager, Mr. Fuji, is named after the mountain.